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You know what? I think Jason Bourne needs to sit the fuck down, because when it comes to both hand to hand and gun combat there’s a WAY fucking better player in the game. The first John Wick (2014) was a massive surprise, it came out of nowhere and became one of the best, fast paced, and most action packed films in the modern action genre. The biggest task this sequel had was trying to live up to such a high achieving first film…… and it’s safe to say this sequel has surpassed its predecessor and it accomplishes everything an action sequel should. Once again John Wick is forced out of retirement and after travelling to Rome he must face off against some of the worlds deadliest assassins (and plenty of cannon fodder) in order to get out alive. This sequel features more brutal, fast paced, lengthy action sequences, plenty of gruesome headshots, amazingly choreographed fight scenes, and totally kick-ass performances from both Keanu Reeves and Common who is introduced here in a supporting role.

This franchise is quickly becoming one of my favourite action franchises of all time, and the most memorable aspect of this film in particular is the fight choreography which is absolutely insane. Watching Wick make his way through entire groups of 20-30+ enemies with ease in scenes that last a good 10-15 minutes is so much goddamn fun. The smoothness of his movements, being able to string together 10 headshot multi-kills and combining that with very well shot hand to hand combat sequences made for tonnes of thrilling action that never seems to end. This film even takes a few action sequences into public where there are people all around and they were fucking intense. I was holding my breath the whole time Wick is walking incognito through a crowd of people and wiping blowing out brains at the same damn time.

Keanu Reeves is amazing in the movie and has merged with his character at this point, to where i don’t think i could look at Reeves without straight away thinking of the Boogeyman. He sells the total badassery of Wick to a tee, i don’t think i can picture anyone else as this deadly assassin who could sell the action sequences so convincingly. But in saying that, Common is in this film playing an enemy assassin and MY GOD, aside from Wick he was my favourite character in the movie. He actually proves to be a worthy adversary for Wick and plays his role really fucking well. He contributes to a good amount of action sequences and has a hand in what is maybe the best and most intense one in the film. The rest of the supporting cast is good, Lawrence Fishburne, Lance Reddick, Ian McShane, and Ruby Rose all do their part in making the film awesome and really making this world feel real and fleshed out.

Speaking of feeling real, this film delves deeper into the mysteries behind ‘The Continental’ and all of the hidden workings of this secret organisation that has worldwide reaches. Seeing this behind the scenes stuff may seem small and insignificant but it works wonders for fleshing out this world. Also one other thing i want to highlight is some of the environments chosen as the backdrops for the action sequences as they are fantastic. One in particular is reminiscent of an amusement park mirror room but like multiplied by ten, and it is insane and trippy as fuck with plenty of great cinematography.

So in the end, i really can’t think of anything i particularly didn’t like about this film, it builds upon everything that made the first film so great and tops it off with a good intriguing and well-paced story. If you loved the first film then there is no doubt you are going to get a really good kick out of this awesome sequel. Also, i really like the way the film incorporates subtitles in a creative fashion, it actually makes reading subtitles genuinely fun.